We all know late-life motherhood poses risks for babies. But worrying new research reveals how having an older father can damage a child's health too

Janet Pranksus, 34 and Mick, 49 pictured when Grace was born in June 2003

Mick Pranskus and his wife Janet knew they had left things a little late when they started trying for a baby.

'We married when Janet was 30 and I am 14 years older than her,' says Mick. 'It wasn't until she was 35 and I was 49 that Janet decided she wanted to have children. Of course, we were a little conscious of her age and the attendant concerns it brought with it, but we were both sure we wanted a family together.'

Mick, now 58, already had two children from his previous marriage, but did not want to deny his new wife the chance of becoming a mother herself. To the couple's delight, Janet became pregnant very quickly and was overjoyed when she gave birth to a girl, Grace.

However, by the time she was six months old, the couple began to feel there was something 'different' about their daughter.

'I noticed when people cooed at her in the supermarket that she didn't find their face and respond - she turned away,' recalls Janet, now 44. 'And our health visitor said she was unusually quiet for a baby of that age.'

Grace was slow to develop, too - only starting to crawl at 16 months and to walk at the age of two.When she was four, doctors confirmed what Janet had suspected for some time - that her daughter had autism.

In the midst of this devastating news, the couple, from South Bersted, West Sussex, naturally found themselves asking what the underlying cause of her condition might be.

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'I always wondered if it had been the fact that Janet had a difficult birth - she was in labour for 48 hours with Grace,' says Mick. But then the couple began to think that something else altogether might have contributed to their daughter's condition - Mick's advancing years.

The couple were shocked to discover that a growing body of research is showing men who delay fatherhood are putting their children's health at risk every bit as much as women who decide to delay motherhood until their 40s.

New studies suggest children born to older men may be at raised risk of a string of genetic disorders and diseases, including autism, schizophrenia and developmental problems such as dwarfism and cleft palate. Some have even linked having an older father to Alzheimer's disease, bipolar disorder (previously known as manic depression), heart disease and cancer.

Studies suggest children born to older men may be at raised risk of a string of genetic disorders and diseases

'Until I heard about these studies, I never dreamt that my age could have been the issue when it came to Grace's health problems,' confesses Mick, who works for Southern Water.

For decades, women have been urged to have children while they're young to avoid the risk of their children developing conditions associated with the mother's advancing age, such as Down's syndrome.

But now, scientists warn that a man in his 40s is twice as likely to pass down potentially disease-forming genetic mutations as a man in his 20s. In other words, the biological clock ticks for men, too.

The theory could cause a fundamental shift in sexual politics, halting the trend for older parenthood in its tracks and prompting women to think twice when choosing the men who father their children.

And, as one expert told the Mail, we could be facing a major public health issue as more children are born with genetic disorders to parents who are not alive long enough to support them. There's no doubt that men in Britain and across the Western world are putting off fatherhood.

One in ten British children are now born to men aged 40-44, and four per cent of all children are born to men aged 45 and over.

A man in his 40s is twice as likely to pass down potentially disease-forming genetic mutations as a man in his 20s

Experts blame the trend on the rising costs of housing and childcare, advances in fertility treatment that allow couples to 'cheat' nature - not to mention the soaring divorce rate, which means men are having second and even third marriages, and therefore often feel obliged to have children with each of their new partners.

Until now, it has largely been believed that there really were no limits on older men becoming fathers - apart, of course, from them not being around to see their children grow up.

Plenty of high-profile men have proudly become late-life fathers, including Radio 4 Today programme host John Humphrys, who became a dad at 56, Des O'Connor, who became a father for the fifth time at 72, and most recently the actor Steve Martin, who reportedly has become a father for the first time at 67.

For decades, scientists have speculated about links between older fathers and birth defects. But it was only recently that a groundbreaking study, published in the respected journal Nature, proved that men undoubtedly pass on more genetic mutations to their children as they get older.

Society has traditionally been very focused on the age of the mother

Researchers sequenced the DNA of 78 Icelandic parents and their children and found a direct correlation between the father's age and the number of mutations linked to autism spectrum disorders and schizophrenia in a child's DNA.

The mother's age had no bearing on their risk - indeed, the team found that 97 per cent of all mutations in a child's DNA come from their father.

'Society has traditionally been very focused on the age of the mother,' says Dr Kari Stefansson, of Decode Genetics, a leading genetic research company, who led the study. 'But it seems that disorders such as schizophrenia and autism are actually influenced by the age of the father and not the mother.'

Dr Stefansson's report suggested that the apparently surging numbers of children diagnosed with autism may at least in part be explained by the ever-increasing age of fathers.

This has been challenged by other experts, however, who point out that autism may be on the rise simply because of better diagnosis, adding that the causes of the condition are complex and still not well understood.

The schizophrenia link has been shown in other findings, including an Israeli study of 87,907 children born between 1964 and 1976. It found that men over 50 were three times more likely than men under 25 to father a child with schizophrenia.

Again, schizophrenia is thought to be caused by a mixture of genetic and social factors and charities have said more research would be needed to prove a link with paternal age.

A Swedish study in 2008 showed a child's risk of bipolar disorder increases in line with their father's age. Other studies have suggested that children born to older fathers may be more at risk of breast cancer, but the link is less certain because these children are usually born to older mothers, too, which may also be a contributory factor.

'There is now quite a bit of literature showing the relationship between a father having a child at an older age and the risk of the child having negative health and behavioural consequences,' says Dr Avi Reichenberg, a neuropsychologist and epidemiologist at King's College London and expert in this area.

Just as a man's memory and skin elasticity gets worse with age, the quality of his sperm seems to as well

'These are small risks, and, of course, most children born to older men will be healthy, but people should be aware that there are two biological clocks ticking when it comes to the decision to create a new life.'

Professor Andrew Wilkie is a clinical geneticist at the University of Oxford. He discovered a link between older fathers and Apert syndrome, a rare bone disorder which may result in an elongated head in children, and believes other conditions may also be affected. 'It's an important question that needs to be asked, because as the reproductive age increases, these age-related effects are likely to increase too,' he says.

So how exactly do older fathers pass on health problems to their children?

Just as a man's memory and skin elasticity gets worse with age, the quality of his sperm seems to as well. Crucially, unlike women who are born with a complete set of eggs, men continually make new sperm throughout their lifetime.

'Of course, children born to older parents can enjoy many advantages - research has shown they do better at school and even live longer, and often their parents can offer an emotionally and financially more stable childhood'

Every 16 days, cells in the testicles divide and the DNA in each cell is copied into a new one which is used to make new sperm. The body is highly accurate at making an exact copy, but inevitably it sometimes makes mistakes. Some sperm will be made containing an error in the DNA - what's known as a genetic mutation.

As a man gets older, the copying process becomes tired and less efficient and his sperm contains more mutations. And if mutated sperm is then used to form a foetus, there's more chance of problems in its development, says Professor Wilkie.

'It's a game of chance. It may be that this mutation does not occur in a critical place. But sometimes the game of chance is against you and the mutation hits a gene that will lead or predispose your child to a certain condition.'

So if the mutation is in the gene controlling brain development, for example, it can cause autism or schizophrenia.

And potentially if a mutation occurs in a gene affecting your risk of a type of cancer, it could increase the chances of the child getting it in later life.

Of course, children born to older parents can enjoy many advantages - research has shown they do better at school and even live longer, and often their parents can offer an emotionally and financially more stable childhood.

But the theory has given June Cox-Smith, whose 15-year-old son Edward has autism, pause for thought. 'My husband Patrick was 52 when Edward was born, and when I first read about this theory it did strike a chord,' says June, now 58, from lkesham, near Hastings - who has two other children, Alexandra, 21, and Mark, 17 - neither of whom have autism.

'It makes sense. Women's fertility deteriorates as we get older, so men must be affected in some way too. It occurred to me, but not to Patrick - with men, nothing is ever their fault. They're always let off the hook.

'Edward is such a lovely chap, but we had an awful time when he was young. Our lives changed completely. I do think couples should be aware that there's a risk.'

The Pranskuses say that even if they'd known about the potential dangers posed to children of having an older father, they wouldn't have done anything differently.

'When Grace was diagnosed, I just thought this is the way she is - I never asked why,' says Mick. 'I love her just the same.'

Indeed, two years ago, they decided to have another child, Ned, who's now two. Janet admits she worried throughout the pregnancy that Ned might have problems too.

'I did worry he might be autistic as well and when he arrived, I was constantly asking people if he seemed OK to them,' she says. 'But it's obvious he doesn't have it - he's alert and always seeking attention. I'm hoping he'll be a protective brother for Grace when we're no longer around.'

If the links between paternal age and health complications are true, the upward shift in the average age of fathers (and mothers) is set to have wide-reaching social and economic implications - not least because older parents, and dads in particular, will die earlier in their child's life. In the UK, a quarter of male deaths occur before the age of 65.

'When you're having children late in life, the switching of responsibility happens sooner,' says psychiatrist Dr Reichenberg. 'It's always a daunting moment when a child realises he or she will have to take care of their own parents.

'But what if that child has their own difficulties, and needs financial aid and support? If you had them later, who is going to take care of that child?

'Will future governments be dealing with this group of adults with disabilities whose parents are not there? It could become a major public health issue and it's not currently out there and being discussed.'

Dr Allan Pacey, the country's leading authority on male fertility, says it's time for a wake-up call on the dangers of putting off becoming a dad. 'I can understand why couples do it, but it's bad biology. Firstly it increases the risk of infertility, but also the evidence is fairly clear now that there are health risks.

'We haven't adequately explained all this to people so they can make an informed decision. People leave it till the eleventh hour because there's always something else to do, or a bit more of the mortgage to pay off.

'But my advice is for men to have children as young as possible - don't wait until you're in your 50s. It will make all the difference in the world to your children's health.'